Diamondbacks fans celebrate a three-game sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday at Chase Field. Arizona won 8-1 for the team’s seventh win in a row.
The juggernaut wasn’t dressed in Dodger blue. It wore purple throwback uniforms. And when the demolition was over, local fans happily amended a longstanding Valley chant. Beat LA? Not good enough. This time, it was “Sweep LA!” It was the last thing you expected to hear two weeks ago, when the Diamondbacks looked more dead than dangerous.
“I think we’re a very confident team,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “And we’re playing good right now.”
This series was a much-needed impact statement. The Diamondbacks handed the Dodgers their first sweep of the season. They never trailed in the series. They took advantage of a team diminished by injuries. They restored confidence inside their clubhouse and on couches all over Arizona.
Only a fool would suggest the Diamondbacks are on the same level as the Dodgers, a team that entered the week with 91 victories. But this series will serve as a powerful psychological boost if they meet in the National League Divisional Series, where the Diamond-
backs will be underdogs. But they won’t be afraid or overwhelmed.
Not when they evened their record through 16 games against the best team in Major League Baseball.
“I just think everything is contagious,” Lovullo said. “When the team is playing well, when things are moving in a very positive direction, there’s a ton of energy and the pitchers take it from there. I talk about downhill baseball all the time. I’ve said it all year long. It’s the way we enjoy playing our games.”
Welcome to an unexpected plot twist. After that hideous sweep in Minnesota that concluded on Aug. 20, the Diamondbacks were 7-12 in August, on track to post their second consecutive losing month. But their rotation has returned in full, and so has their swagger.
During darker times, Lovullo admitted his team was wandering and drifting during stretches of the schedule and individual games. He didn’t like the lack of intensity they often displayed in the first few innings, falling behind far too often.
That all changed against the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks took advantage of favorable pitching matchups in all three games, scoring 10 runs combined in the first inning. In Thursday’s 8-1 victory, Gregor Blanco led off the game with a hustle double, taking advantage of frightfully indifferent defense from Yasiel Puig, who caught the one-hop single, paid no attention to the baserunner and seemed in no rush to throw the baseball to anyone.
It set the tone for everything that followed and seemed to illustrate how the Diamondbacks have found a new level of urgency at first pitch.
“I thought we came out ready to play on a day game where things tend to get a little loose and slippery because guys are fatigued,” Lovullo said.
The series was a testament to Paul Goldschmidt’s MVP candidacy. It showcased the importance of A.J. Pollock, who contributed with his bat and glove. It jolted Dodgers fans, who clearly miss winning every day of the week.
This series wasn’t a spectacle. It didn’t play to large crowds. Midweek games in late August often turn Chase Field into a morgue, and Thursday’s afternoon start drew only 19,882. And once again, the stadium was a safe haven for Dodgers fans.
But as J.D. Martinez noted, the only way to eliminate opposing fans from overtaking their stadium is to beat the team in the other dugout. The Diamondbacks succeeded on that front, as well.
“Yes, we’re aware of the Dodgers being the premier team in the big leagues right now,” Lovullo said. “But I’m more focused on us, and what we have to do day by day, and taking care of our business. Which we have.
“We deserve to enjoy this moment, but we have to turn the page very quickly.”
He's right, even though October suddenly seems tantalizing. The Diamondbacks have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Rockies entering a weekend series in Colorado. If Zack Greinke gets a home start in a one-game playoff, otherwise known as Game 7 in a microwave, a playoff rematch with the Dodgers will become a reality.
And after the last three games, at Chase Field, the best team in baseball surely felt the message: The Diamondbacks aren't their equals. But they are a legitimate threat.